A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - Week 3

We're we're gonna continue in our series A Beautiful Day

in the Neighborhood today. If you've got a Bible, go

to Proverbs chapter eighteen, Proverbs chapter eighteen, verse twenty four,

and we we're gonna start talking about some of the

practicality behind this series. We talked about being a neighbor,

we talked about evangelism. Now we're gonna marry those two

things together and h and kind of talk about that

first step because how many of you, and I want

you to be honest here, how many of you if

you had to teach a class put together a PowerPoint presentation.

On how to be a friend? You could actually.

Put that into a plain logical sequence on what it

is to make friends? Rajer Hahn, if you think you

could do that. That's that's kind of an abstract thought process, though,

isn't it. I mean, you know, have you ever sat

down and thought about, hey, step A to step Z,

what does it.

Take to be a friend?

And scripture addressed that addresses that because we actually live

under the mandate to be neighbors or friends, to to

purposely build relationships for the purpose of drawing people to Christ.

And that is that is our purpose, part of our

purpose here on earth. And I think that sometimes, especially

as we've been saved for a while, say a while.

You know, if there are if you've been.

Saved longer than people, longer than the age of people

sitting in this room, you've been saved for a long time.

Come on, somebody.

And the longer we've been saved, the more we retreat

into Christian subculture, the more we retreat into this world

that's only surrounded by our church friends or our Christian friends.

Amen.

Uh, the more we start thinking differently than we used

to think right after we first got saved.

You know, I think the uh, I think.

The pinnacle moment for for doing evangelism, for doing friendship evangelism,

is that moment when we first get saved and Jesus

has made us brand new, a new creation, has cleaned

us up.

But we still have it. But our our friends, our

old friends, come.

On, somebody, they still haven't quite scene the change in us,

so they're still hanging around.

Amen.

So we have that network of built in relationships. But

but we've kind of done a disservice because in the

church we kind of have built this invisible, unintentional process

that says, Okay, now you're saved, so you you've got

to go through this series of classes and learn these

things and memorize these scriptures before you can start really

leading people to Jesus. And it was unintentional, but at

the same time, it's something that happened.

And I believe we live in the age now.

Where we are teaching separation rather than impartation. We preach

retreating into the Christian subculture to get away from the world.

But Jesus himself said.

Hey, I'm not taking you out of the world, You're

just not part of it. I'm leaving you here because

the world needs you. The Apostle Paul struggles with that

same thought process and he says, hey, for me to

die is gain, but it might be more important that

I stay here for you because there's still people in

the world that desperately need a grace colsion with the Savior.

And that's our role, that's our purpose.

Now, let me let me tell you what I don't

want you to hear today. What I don't want you

to hear today is only have unsaved friends.

That that's not what I'm teaching today.

Okay, so don't don't don't leave here and tweet.

Here comes all my law. Here I come lost friends,

we going to the club.

That's not what I'm saying, all right, But I'm saying

that we need to prioritize building relationships that maybe especially

some of us that have been saved for a long time.

How many people in here you've been saved for five

years or more, ten years, twenty five?

Keep them up. It's not shameful. It's a good thing.

Forty years, fifty fifty one, y'all been saying as long

as I've been a lie fifty one years, you know.

That's uh. As we as we go through life and

we begin to.

Develop those relationships, the easy I just do not know

what is going on today.

The easy relationships are the ones that stick. Let me

say that again. The easy relationships are the ones that stick.

It's uh.

It's hard to convince yourself to do work to maintain

a friendship. But relationships are worth the work, and some

relationships are purposely built.

To expand and build the Kingdom of God.

When we look at scripture, in Proverbs chapter eighteen, verse

twenty four, it says a man who has friends must

himself be friendly. But there is a friend who sticks

closer than a brother.

A man who wants to have.

Friends must himself be friendly. I just want to propose something.

I just want to throw a thought out. I'm not

picking on you. I just want to throw a thought out.

If you're sitting in a church like Cornerstone Tabernacle, who

prioritizes groups and connecting and teams and all those things,

and you're sitting here and you think to yourself, I

don't have anybody. I don't have any friends in the church.

Nobody ever talks to me, nobody ever visits me, nobody ever,

nobody ever, nobody ever.

Everybody in that church hates me.

First of all, when I hear somebody say everybody at

my church hates me, I think two things.

First of all, what did you do? Amen?

And secondly, why do you think you're important enough that

everybody would hate you? And if you feel isolated and alone,

are you trying to build relationship? Because all we can

do is give the opportunity. We can't make it happen.

So if you feel isolated, it's because you're isolating yourself, amen.

And if we don't have lost friends that we have

intentionally built relationship with for the purpose of leading them

to Jesus. Is because we haven't intentionally developed those relationships.

And here this scripture says, hey, show yourself friendly to

be a friend, and then stick with it. Go through

the hard things, go through the difficult things.

In order to develop relationships.

Because there is a hurting, broken world that identifies the

church largely as a bunch of hypocrites. I'm I'm gonna

give you a revelation and just say say, y'll buckle

up because it's coming. They identify the church as a

bunch of hypocrites, and the reason they don't go to

church is because of all the.

Hypocrites I want to give.

I want to let you know something beyond a shadow

of it out we are.

The church is filled with a bunch of hypocrites.

If that's shocking to you, you've never done a self

evaluation of who you are.

We all miss the mark.

Still, even though Jesus shed his life and bled for us.

We still miss the mark. And people see that.

Amen, So on the outside looking in they identify it

as hypocrite. Now we know on the inside looking out

that it's just a bunch of hurt, broken people trying

to get there, and we have God's grace and we're

pulling for each other, and we're praying for each other,

and we're believing that we're gonna get there one day,

but we're.

Not there yet.

So looking from the outside in, we are a bunch

of hypocrites, and from the inside out, we're a bunch

of hurt, broken people who are trying to match, trying

to hit the mark, trying to step into purpose and

walk into who Jesus wants us to be. Here's the difference. Relationship,

that's the difference. See, somebody might look at Calvin and

see hypocrite. I look at Calvin to see Calvin because

he's my buddy. He tries to pull them silly pranks

on me every single Sunday, at least thirty times a year.

He tries to convince me I dropped my ear on

the floor. Amen, that's just.

But I know him.

So there's some grace that opens up because there's relationship there.

I mean, you know, I don't know Taylor. Some people

may think he's just a mean, old, stuck up cuss.

I don't know about Taylor. I mean, you know, but

I've known Taylor his whole life.

Most of mine, and I love him, and I understand

that he's Taylor and he's chasing after Jesus and he

wants to be everything Jesus want to be. And that's

the difference, is the relationship component. The reason people look

and say that the church is full of hypocrites and

I'm not going to have anything to do with it

is because we've never shown ourself friendly and begin to

build relationship, because relationship gives us the platform to communicate

difficult things. One of the problems with America right now

is we try to solve problems from a podium rather

than a kitchen table.

We try we try to have a speech about change

rather than having communication at a heart level.

About change, because there is no defense from the enemy

for true love and community. The enemy has nothing to

dismantle that. But we have to get passed.

All of the things we see.

That make us think of the world as dirty, that

we have to disassociate from and get into the heart

of the matter, which has lost people that are in

need of Jesus. In Matthew chapter seven, starting in verse one,

it says, Judge not now most I was quit reading

right there, Judge, not that you be not judged. For

with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And

with the measure you see, it will be measured. For

the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. See,

we get in this run and the enemy has convinced

us that scriptures says do not judge. But scripture doesn't

tell us not to judge. Scripture tells us to judge.

But understanding, when we judge and we make an assessment

of what's going on, that that same judgment is going

to be cast upon us. So if you see everybody

else has dirty, filthy outsiders that are no good, that

are separate from us, that are just going to.

Hell, and I don't care.

If that's the way we see them, does that give

God permission to see us just the fault, just the thought,

because see, true friendship means that we look at people. Well,

let's just let's go to John chapter seven, verse twenty four.

It says, do not judge according to appearance, but judge

with righteous judgment. He said, listen, don't judge on the outside,

don't judge on actions, judge righteously. And what does that mean? Well,

God doesn't. God doesn't look on the outside. God doesn't

look on the appearance of man. God looks at the

heart of man. God looks at the soulish level, at

the part of us that need Christ, the part of

us that are separated from Him by sin. And righteous

judgment means that we see the lost the way Jesus

sees the loss. That we see the world the way Jesus. Jesus,

Jesus saw the world, and he gave himself for it.

And if Jesus gave himself for it, and we're supposed

to be like Christ, then we should give our lives

for the world to the point where we're at least

building some friendships with people that maybe make us feel

a little uncomfortable. Wow, what a revolutionary thought that we

do life the way Jesus did.

You know?

One of the biggest things that the religious had against

Jesus was the fact that he associated with sinners, that

he had friendships and relationships with people that were outside

of the acceptable. I mean, he chose a tax collector

to be one of his twelve. He chose a thief

to be one of his twelve. He chose stinky fishermen

to be part of his twelve. He didn't look for

the ones that already.

Looked the part. He looked for the.

Ones that God would get some glory out off when

their lives were changed.

So your challenge is.

To find the worst person you can find and start

building a friendship with them. Start seeing them the way

Jesus sees them. Start having How do you? How do

we already covered this? Just say, well, now do you?

How do you build a friendship? You be friendly? You

be friendly. You go in and you buy your coffee

and instead of walking up and slamming it down, zipping

your card, grabbing it.

And storming out. Now, listen, it takes some effort. Listen

to me.

Go by the ATM, get a twenty dollars bill, go

in the store, put your coffee down, take the money out,

wlaught it up in your pocket.

Look, I want to show you that's how I keep

my money in my pocket.

Right there, pull it out, unfolded, straighten it out, lay

it down on the calendar. And the whole time you're

doing it, make small talk with the person that's waiting

for you, because they're used to use zipping your card

and walking out, But today something's different. You know what

I'm gonna do tomorrow. I'm gonna take that change that

I had. So it was just a short conversation because

it was only a twenty. Right tomorrow, I've already broke

that twenty. So I got all this stuff wadded up together.

I'm gonna count out. How you doing today? Yeah?

I know I shouldn't just wadd this money up in

my pocket anymore, but you know, I'm just disorganized. You know,

we all got issues in our lives. We all got

things we struggle with. Mine's organization. How you doing today? Listen,

I just want you to know that I was thinking

about you all days, because yesterday's the first day I've.

Talked to you.

And I'm sorry that I've never even really tried to

be forra Hey, Can I buy you a cup of coffee?

I get coffee free, dummy. Oh, I didn't know that.

That's good to know. I'm glad you get all the

caffeine you need. I'll see you in the morning.

Can we just start building friendships by being friendly one

day at a time. What a revolutionary thought that we

would take time out of our busy lives.

To slow down and get to know somebody.

In John Chapter twelve, verse forty seven, It says, and

if anyone hears my words and does.

Not believe.

This is Jesus talking, I do not judge him, for

I did not come to judge the world, but to

save the world.

Jesus said, Hey, the way you were.

Looking at people, I don't look.

At people that way. He says.

I didn't come to cast judgment on them. I didn't

come to pick out their brokenness and their hurt and

their sin. That's not what I came. I came to

save the world. I came to be their savior, to

be their safety net, to be their rescue, to pull

them out of the muck and the mire. That's what

I came for. He who rejects me, does not receive

my words, has that which judges him the word that

I've spoken, I will judge him. In the last day,

he says. Listen, I'm not judging right now. That is

reserved for one day at the very end. They say

that again, that is reserved for one day, at the

very end.

I don't do that on a daily basis.

That's not what I As a matter of fact, Jesus said,

I came to seek and to save that which is

lost and Jesus gave us that authority to go seek

and save that which is lost. So I look at

the fruit produced in people's lives, and I make an

assumption of judgment that, hey, that person doesn't have good

spiritual fruit, so that person may not be saved. Now,

what you're not going to intention You're not going to

intentionally build a relationship with somebody at your work that

you see reading the Bible every single day for the

purpose of leading them to Christ.

That's just making another friend.

You're going to build those relationships with people that it's

hard to build those relationships with because you don't see

the world the same way, and relationship will level the

playing fields so that they can have a grace collision

with Jesus. In Romans chapter ten, verse one, the apostle

Paul says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God

for Israel is that they may be saved. He said, listen,

I look at Israel, and every single day my number

one thing is to continue to build relationship and to

pray for the lost, to pray for the lost. So

I'm going to intentionally start being friendly. Step one, say,

step one.

Be a friend.

Oh y'all I have to say that, but yeah, okay.

Step one is be a friend. Step two, I'm going

to start praying. I'm going to set aside prayer time.

Now. Listen.

I know that you've got a lot of stuff going on.

I understand that, and that most of your prayers are

filled with what you need and what you want. I

understand that. Okay, but just bump one thing that you

need off the list because God already knows you need it.

He's probably would like for you to change. He would

probably like for you to change the topic on occasion.

Amen doesn't always have to be about you bump one

thing off the list and add a lost person in

that place. So now I'm pulling up to the convenience

store where I buy my coffee, and I'm about to

walk in, and right there in the car, I buy

my head and I say, Lord, I just pray that

you bless my friend, that you open their heart to

receive the Gospel. I pray that I am so authentic,

that I am so sincere when I start building this relationship,

that they can see it and that they sense it,

and that you give me an open door to talk

about Jesus and listen.

If you are really Pentecostal, just a thought.

If you are a true Pentecostal believer and you want

to do the whole prayer cloth apron thing, do this.

Take a dollar bill and say, Lord, let this dollar

bill be a point of contact open their heart, and

then pay for your coffee. Reach out and pull the

dollar bill you just prayed over out of your pocket

and give it to them as a tip. So if

they stick it in their pocket and they carry that

point of contact.

With them all day long.

Because that which costs you nothing is worth nothing. I'm

just saying, put your money where your heart is. When

when we go out to eat, I give generous tips.

I'm a generous tipper. I'm not a rich man, but

I give generous tips simply because that person that is serving,

that person that is waiting on my table has made

what Jesus did with his life their profession. And who

better to bless and allow them to have a nice

day than someone who has made serving their profession. So

I like to give good tip. People look at me

all the time and say why are you tips so much?

Because they put up with you.

Do you know, do you know the day.

That people in the service industry hate the most, but

have to work because it's where.

They actually make the most money. It's Sunday lunch.

Because everybody goes to church and complains because they're not

getting their food fast enough, and they're the ones that

call the manager and they're the one. Sunday should be

the best day for everybody in the service industry to

work in our community because you're going there and you're overtipping,

and you're being nice, and you're building relationships, and you're

doing all those things with no.

Strings attached other than the fact that you just want.

To bless somebody and start the process of building a relationship.

Amen.

Step one, be a friend. Step two pray. And we're

only getting through two steps today. First Timphy Chapter two,

Verse one. Therefore, I exhort first of all all that

supplications carrying something humbly to God is what that word means.

Play, you guys can come and get ready.

Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplication, prayers, intercessions,

and giving of thanks be made for all men, for

kings and all who are in authority, that we may

lead a quiet and peaceable life, and all godliness and

reverence for this is good and acceptable in the sight

of God, our savior.

Why do we pray for them? Listen, who desires.

All men to be saved and come to the knowledge

of truth? Our prayer lives should be pointed towards the lost,

that all men should be saved, not just our prayers,

but also our thanksgivings. See, they're gonna y'all just sing

that same song it was supposed to be now that

I moved up. Whatever you want to sing, I don't care.

Here's what just happened. Let me pull the veil back

and show you what just happened. Because Clays, who he

says is one hundred percent of the time, he just

went back there and he made a plan, and I

just messed it up.

That's what just happened. So do whatever you want to do.

You're going to anyway, So listen, just a minute, they're

gonna sing. You go start thinking of that person. As

a matter of fact, just stop right now. I want

you to take about ten seconds. Should be all it

takes to get a person's name in your mind that

you're gonna start building a relationship with for the purpose

of leading them to Christ. Go, you got that person

in your mind. Raise your hand.

If you've got that person in your.

Mind now, Tomorrow, morning, tonight, whenever you're going to do,

pray for that Start praying for that person, and tomorrow

start building that friendship. But right now, in just the moment,

we're going to close this service doing that other thing

that Paul says giving Thanksgiving. We're going to we're going

to sing and pray worship with that person in our mind,

going to begin to thank the Lord for spinning in

the invisible realm, for preparing that heart in the invisible realm,

for opening doors for us to step through to be

the catalyst for that person's salvation. Don't just go through

the motions, hold that person in your mind, because this

is the first step towards leading them to Jesus.

I want you to every single.

Day pray for this person, declare thanksgiving for this person,

and reach out to build friendships with this person.

We wanna do some simple math for you. If every

he reaches one, there is no end.

To the number of people who get saved. You're like, yeah,

would double. No, it wouldn't either, because when you reach

one and they reach one, and then they reach one

and then they reach one, and they reach one. It's

an endless cycle of evangelism. Church time is getting short.

Look around the world. It's not getting better, it's getting worse.

Jesus is going to come back and rescue us from this.

Who are you going to take with you? Who are

you going to take with you? Or if you're motivated

in the opposite way, who are you going to leave behind?

Everybody's staying with me all over the building. Father, I

thank you that you're birthing the heart of a soul

winner in every man, every woman, every boy, every girl.

Now I pray these not just be loose words, just

be a catalyst of motivation, that our lives change with intentionality. Lord,

I love you, and I thank you in Jesus' name. Amen,

let us thank God over that name.

As to play